Boarding and searching 'neutral' freighters.

[queeqeg]

Ok, so I've done this a few times now. In each case the ships were flying Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese and - on my current patrol - an Argentinian flag. Each time I boarded, searched the cargo, inspected the Captain;s papers, and tried to pressure him by making claims, but every time my boarding party never found anything suspicious and we let them go on their way.
So my question is - has anyone ever boarded and searched a ship and found the crew to be smugglers aiding the enemy? Are there any tips anyone can offer on exposing a 'neutral' ship as a smuggler/enemy? I have a navigation officer on my sub who is can speak a few languages including English and Spanish, but are there any tell-tale signs I should look for when speaking to a captain or crew on a neutral ship that can reveal them as the enemy and therefore sinkable?

[The cursed Jäger]

Port - does their course roughly go to their destination port?
Import/Export - what does the destination import? You can leave the inspection window by clicking the little "X" and head to the port that's listed in the document and look what they import. Does it match the documents?
Cargo bay - what are they actually carrying? Does it match the documents/what their destination port imports?

Always bring a gun, increases the chance to get a smuggler. And yes I had skippers admit they are smugglers.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2861597856

[weirdly.grusome]

I had a weird one

The ship was heading NE in the north sea with port listed as Vera Cruz.

During the course of things my navigator cleared it as a viable port.

[Capt.Jamesbloke]

Yes. I just finished my first patrol retrieving the Enigma. Whilst travelling I intercepted a Spanish Ship of which passed the interrogation claiming the transport of medical supplies. Though I was still sceptical I ordered a search of the cargo. Half the cargo was Ammo. I ordered the evacuation of the ship, much to the objections of the captain, and let her meet Davy Jones's Locker. When back in port, the sinking was hailed a success.

Another scenario was when a neutral cargo ship just would not stop. I Sunk it! Again at the end the sinking was a success.

I believe that the dialog is misleading and that you need to use your own deductions regarding Neutral Shipping. Why would I believe the Captain when he states the papers say the ship is heading to Spain when actually they are north of Spain heading towards Cardiff??

I read somewhere that there were many neutral ships sunk by the Germans. Your the Captain and the final decision is yours and yours alone!

Heavy is the Head that chose to wear the Crown!

[Huszek (HUN)]

Hello!
How can I stop the ships to check?

[Ziggurt]

Originally posted by Huszek (HUN):

Hello!
How can I stop the ships to check?

Be close to them and stop the engines. Hit the interaction window which now will not show the warning that you are too fast or too far away.

And just in case this is needed - only ships from neutral countries can be stopped and inspected. Tankers cannot in current version.

[Huszek (HUN)]

Thank you!! :)

[Huszek (HUN)]

Originally posted by Ziggurt:

Originally posted by Huszek (HUN):

Hello!
How can I stop the ships to check?

Be close to them and stop the engines. Hit the interaction window which now will not show the warning that you are too fast or too far away.

And just in case this is needed - only ships from neutral countries can be stopped and inspected. Tankers cannot in current version.

I did as you said but it doesn't work! I am using the latest version 2022.1!

[Red_Seven_]

Originally posted by Huszek (HUN):

I did as you said but it doesn't work! I am using the latest version 2022.1!

What exactly doesn't work? Does the interaction not appear? Or does it give the 'too fast/too far away' error?

A screenshot might be helpful in this case.

[hellrider]

2022.1 P13 / inspection works in my case (not for tankers, fisherman, coastals yet)

[hansandmg42]

Check what cargo they have( is it contraband), destination ( is it heading to an enemy port or carrying cargo that isnt usually imported in that specific port) pressure the captain with officers who have guns if you are not sure. its not very common to encounter smuggelers.

[hellrider]

maybe - for ships under way FROM Britain it is TRUE that they are heading under neutral flag to the neutral port. Only in case that is British ship you have some chance. Much more probable is inspecting neutral ships heading TO the British isles - due my testing more than 50% success.

If you are really courious, check XLSX Sandbox / sheet Spawners - Columns
"False Flag Probability" and "False Flags"
- will tell you which routes is is possible to find such a case. In vanilla:
Transport HX 1 (Halifax to Liverpool)
Transport HX 2 (Halifax to Liverpool)
Transport HXF (Halifax to Liverpool)
Transport SL (Freetown to Liverpool)
Transport OB (Liverpool to Boston)
Transport UG (NY to Gibraltar)
Transport OS (Liverpool to Freeport)

And all of there fly a flag of one of there nations: ES, PT, AR, CH. But if you find a mechant under NO flag on the way to the London, he is neutral, but also a regular target - becasuse his target is London no matter he has in cargo.

[urseus]

Been playing for 3 years. Never found single ship smuggling. All going to the right ports for their cargo. To the point it's not worth stopping neutrals.

[hellrider]

Originally posted by urseus:

Been playing for 3 years. Never found single ship smuggling. All going to the right ports for their cargo. To the point it's not worth stopping neutrals.

Do not forger Experience (+25EXP ?) for those who make a Inspection, in case of "valid target" you get "captain 15% of Reputation" + two boats (next 20% of Reputation for giving supplies) + sometimes useful cargo (depends of MOD). That is lot of reasons to do it - especially it does not cost you anyth. And - it is your job to do the blockaide ;D

[Red_Seven_]

Originally posted by urseus:

Been playing for 3 years. Never found single ship smuggling. All going to the right ports for their cargo. To the point it's not worth stopping neutrals.

Yeah, the merchant dialogue option is completely useless currently, but almost every ship you find north of the iberian peninsula which is roughly heading towards the british isles can be convicted at least by the navigator option.

[hellrider]

Originally posted by Red_Seven_:

Originally posted by urseus:

Been playing for 3 years. Never found single ship smuggling. All going to the right ports for their cargo. To the point it's not worth stopping neutrals.

Yeah, the merchant dialogue option is completely useless currently, but almost every ship you find north of the iberian peninsula which is roughly heading towards the british isles can be convicted at least by the navigator option.

Do you use armed and "Personal skills" equipped officers? Chance is 50/50. But there must. In my testing in case there was a "smuggler" the chances of catching correlate about 50% in case there was no language barrier

you can check this all in XLSS Stories / Freighter Inspection - sheet. Or you can MOD it